New Year, New World of Cruising!

The brand new re-launch edition of World of Cruising magazine is due for publication next week, and it's time to reveal everything in store for Europe's leading and longest-running cruise publication.

First of all, as Time Spent At Sea readers will already know, we have new owners in the shape of Real Response Media, with ambitious plans to take the magazine to a whole new level in terms of profile, design and content. Among their initial innovations are SIX issues a year (instead of four), and a glossy year-end Cruise Directory, which will provide a comprehensive list of every cruise line and every ship, as well as providing a preview of the year ahead.

We also have a sharp new design team, who have revamped the look and style of our pages in keeping with the promise of a New Year. There are new columnists and new features, including some eye-catching destination stories that are sure to have you saying ‘I want to go THERE!’ like our Cover Story on Alaska (above).

We also feature an update on the Queen Elizabeth of Cunard and a full review of 2013's new Europa 2 of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, and take a unique river journey on the Spirit of Chartwell with Titan Tours on the River Douro in Portugal.

For adventure-cruise fans, we travel to Norway with our blogger-in-chief Steve Newman, while for a mouth-watering cruise cuisine feature we feature Windstar Cruises. 

New features include Three Of A Kind - a special look at a trio of regional ports, in this case A Coruna, Bilbao and Santander of Spain's Costa Verde - and Being There, which is a photo highlight of a current 'hot' cruise destination, in this case the Canary Islands. And, following on from there, Where Next is a view of an up-and-coming port of call, with our first one taking a look at Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

For new columnists, we have Andy Harmer, the Director of CLIA UK & Ireland, and Silver Travel Advisor, the essential website for mature traveller advice.
 

Our features line-up is also more obviously demarcated, so readers can immediately see the difference between our Ocean, River, Adventure and Luxury cruising sections, as well as enjoying a new-look News section, which remains the market leader in cruise terms. Our essential Cruise Planner remains a part of the mix, though.

If that is the Big Picture in our wide World of Cruising, there is a huge amount of detail to follow, and we are sure you are going to want to stay with us for the full voyage. More and more people will be seeing our publication as the whole story of cruising goes widescreen and technicolour this year, with new ships, new places to see and new ways to see them.

No-one has our cruise know-how or our depth of cruise knowledge, and no-one provides the unparalleled range of stories and insight that we do. It all starts anew with Issue 61, so make sure you’re aboard! This is your Captain, setting sail…

Simon Veness

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.

More News From World of Cruising

It's been in the works for several weeks now, but World of Cruising is officially a sister company with River Cruises Europe, Britain's top website for everything to do with European river cruising.

Our owners, Real Response Media, have acquired the website to add to their growing cruise portfolio, and we will be sharing content, links and brand recognition with each other in the weeks and months ahead.

River Cruises Europe is a great one-stop-shop for all things to do with cruising along the likes of the Rhine, Danube, Rhone, Seine, Elbe and other smaller rivers, detailing all the cruise lines and the areas they cover, with great photos, video and the latest news and special offers.

And, as things develop, there will be a great opportunity to enjoy even more cruise events and insights into this fascinating business.

Real Response Media Director Chris Pitchford says: “We’re delighted to be the new owners of River Cruises Europe, which is already an

excellent resource for all things to do with river-cruising and which we intend to build even further in future. 

"With the expertise behind our cruise magazine - which already includes a section on river-cruising - and our other marketing and database contacts, we aim to provide a fully independent, fully up-to-date website that gives people everything they need to make a sound and informed holiday choice.”

Fellow RRM Director Matthew Underhill adds: “We know how much river-cruising is expanding and increasing in popularity and we want to ride that wave of interest and contribute to even more growth in future. And we also now have great synergies between the range of publications to allow for cross-marketing and great brand recognition.”

We will be sure to pass on more news as it happens, but be sure to add www.rivercruiseseurope.co.uk to your favourite websites, and add @RiverCruisesEU to the Twitter accounts you follow (as well as @WorldofCruising!).

Have you subscribed to World of Cruising magazine yet? We have a very special, limited-time offer to save 50% off a full year's subscription, which includes six issues PLUS our new year-end Cruise Directory. That means a year's worth of Europe's leading cruise publication will be only £15. Check out the special rate on this link!

 

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.

New Owners for World of Cruising Magazine!

London (Sept 19, 2013). -  Publishing and Database company Real Response Media (RRM) have announced the acquisition of Europe’s leading cruise publication, World of Cruising magazine, from independent operator Robin Maclear of Sussex-based The Cruise Line Ltd. The change of hands follows a prolonged steady growth period for the magazine, which is Europe’s leading cruise publication, having been founded in 1998. Maclear has sold the controlling interest to RRM, and they will continue to develop the magazine’s growth along international lines.

Managing Director Chris Pitchford says: “This is an opportunity to take an existing, well-established niche publication and take it to the next level. There continues to be huge and consistent growth in the cruise market, and no publication has yet fully captured that readership and growth potential. We have significant plans to take the magazine’s existing

high-quality style and extend it to that market in a number of different ways that should be very exciting both for our current readers and the world of cruising in general.”

Pitchford will be partnered by RRM Director Matthew Underhill, who is also Managing Director of Event Live Media, which effectively gives the company both a contract and exhibition publishing arm as well as a magazine publishing business. 

In the past 15 years, World of Cruising has become a major authority on all cruise-related matters, including helping to launch new lines such as Oceania Cruises in the UK and introduce a variety of niche luxury and adventure cruise companies. The magazine has reviewed hundreds of ships and explored destinations from the Amazon to the Zambezi. Columns such as The Admiral have achieved a cult following, while those of Captain Greybeard, The Cruise Guy and Cruise Radio have found a following in the US as well as Britain. The popular online version of the magazine is read from the US to Australia and it has also been published in China, the first cruise publication there.

Says Robin Maclear: “The sale to Real Response Media comes at an opportune time in cruise development and will allow World of Cruising to become the fully independent voice

of cruising worldwide. It has been a pleasure to work with our editor, Simon Veness, and an excellent team of journalists. All of us will continue to play our part in the magazine’s future growth as well.”

The Autumn edition of the magazine has just been published (www.worldofcruising.co.uk) and the first edition under RRM’s leadership will be the Winter issue, publishing in January.

Contacts: For Real Response Media, contact Chris Pitchford on 020 8444 6045 or email chris.pitchford@realresponsemedia.com. For Robin Maclear, call 0870 442 6933 or email robin@cruiseline.co.uk.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.